Virginia Tech football: 47 days til kickoff with a look back at Nekos Brown

Today is July 15, 2019, which means we are officially just 47 days away from the Virginia Tech Hokies opening the college football season at Boston College. Yesterday, we profiled Brandon Manning, a four-year contributor and two-year starter at whip linebacker.

For No. 47, we take a look back at Nekos Brown, a defensive end who played for the Hokies from 2006-2009. Brown arrived at Virginia Tech in 2006 as a three-star prospect from Thomas Stone High School in Waldorf, Md.

Brown showed promise as soon as he arrived on campus and was a prominent member of all special-teams’ units as a true freshman in 2006. Overall, he played 124 snaps on special teams. Bud Foster noticed Brown, too, as he received 106 snaps on defense. While Foster generally likes to redshirt his young defensive linemen, he saw something special in Brown. On the season, he finished with 12 tackles and saw action in all 13 games.

In 2007, Brown figured a bit more prominently in Foster’s plans. He was still a stalwart on special teams, but he moved up the two-deep as a backup defensive end. He played in all 14 games, racking up 22 tackles, including 4.5 for loss and three sacks. As a junior in 2008, Brown played in 12 games, making two starts and finishing with career-highs in tackles (54), tackles for loss (5) and sacks (4.5).

After Brown’s role steadily increased throughout his first three seasons, he finally earned his chance to start in 2009. While much of the attention of offensive tackles was focused on Jason Worilds, Brown was just as good that season. The senior started all 13 games, finished fourth on the team with 56 tackles and led the team with seven sacks. While Worilds hit opposing quarterbacks an impressive 32 times, Brown finished second on the team with 14 QB pressures.

After his career at Virginia Tech, Brown spent some time on the rosters of the Washington Redskins and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Growing up in Maryland, Brown was a fan of the Redskins as a child. He also spent several seasons playing in the Arena League.

Perhaps one of the coolest facts about Nekos is his father, Chuck, AKA the “Godfather of Go-Go,” was a legendary funk musician who performed for almost 50 years until his passing in 2012. Nekos apparently had the talent, but was a bit shy. However, his younger brother, Wiley, also a former Hokie who played defensive back, is now following in his father’s footsteps in the music business, while he continues his career as a teacher and football coach.

Nekos and Wiley also run the Chuck Brown Foundation, you can check it out here.

The great thing about this countdown is taking a look back at Hokies who didn’t receive as much publicity as others, yet were as instrumental in the success of Virginia Tech as anyone. Brandon Manning and Nekos Brown are two prime examples of those players.